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- May 26, 2022
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Yesterday afternoon, I brewed my First Brew using the Northern Brewery Essentials Kit. A few questions arose from going through that.
One of the initial thoughts I had about this 5 gallon kit, is that I didn't want to end up with close to 50 beers, being that it's my first and if anything wanted to keep some room in my frig. My intention was the split it into a 2.5g batch, and brew the second 2.5g batch later.
Splitting of Ingredients
I basically halved all the ingredients with a gram/oz scale. As I was going through that, I did pay special attention to the yeast since thats a potential point to contamination at that point in the process. I did put everything in a new baggie to measure it's total weight, and split the other half into another baggie. For one thing, would the use of a new baggie, introduce any new contaminants? I guess that comes down to how clean the baggie factory was ? I guess to play it safe, I would buy extra yeast packets if I were to do this again just to avoid that. What if I were to use a yeast packet intended for a 5 gal kit, but only for 2.5gal?
Steeping Grains
I boiled the water to a target temp of 160F, then steeped the grains for the 20 minutes. After reading the instructions again, they talk about putting in the grains while the water is cold, then steeping for 20 minutes while targeting 160F. Which is the better way to steep? I would think steeping at the 160F for the full 20 minutes would extract more flavor?
Decontaminate Buckets
Fill the bottling bucket with hot water and dissolve the no rinse cleaner. I would think the water should be hot enough to dissolve rinse, but no need to be hot since I would be using my hand to clean the bucket?
Concerns about temp
From what it says about Ale per the Munton's yeast site, they talk about a fermentation temperature any where from 64F-70F for an Ale. Being that I live in SF, and it can get pretty chilly, I was worried about going below 64F in the evenings. So, I placed a seedling mat under the fermentor, along with a on/off temperature controller. I set the temp controller to turn on for anything below 64F and placed the fermentor in a cupboard. This AM I took temp readings on the outside of the fermentor which measured 72F. The inside of the cabinet is showing 66F, so the additional 6F is a good sign the fermentation is working. I had bought some stick on temperature labels, but they are terrible to see unless I shine a light on them, which I shouldn't be doing. Is there a recommended good stick on gauge?
Airlock
Since I started this 3pm yesterday, and now it's 8AM, happy to report the airlock is bubbling away. I was surprised initially that 1/2 the sanitizer that I put in the airlock was "missing". I could see that it sprayed out due to the big gurgles it was making every 30 seconds. I had left the red cap off thinking "how was the gas going to escape"... No doubt a mistake! as it does allow gas to escape, not to mention it prevents evaporation. Now that the cap is on it's gurgling constantly!!! Wonder if I should be refilling the airlock with more sanitizer?
I plan on taking specific gravity measurements with the hydrometer at days 10,11,12 to see if fermentation is done and proceed with bottling if I'm good to go.
Keeping my fingers crossed, this is fun fun fun!!!
One of the initial thoughts I had about this 5 gallon kit, is that I didn't want to end up with close to 50 beers, being that it's my first and if anything wanted to keep some room in my frig. My intention was the split it into a 2.5g batch, and brew the second 2.5g batch later.
Splitting of Ingredients
I basically halved all the ingredients with a gram/oz scale. As I was going through that, I did pay special attention to the yeast since thats a potential point to contamination at that point in the process. I did put everything in a new baggie to measure it's total weight, and split the other half into another baggie. For one thing, would the use of a new baggie, introduce any new contaminants? I guess that comes down to how clean the baggie factory was ? I guess to play it safe, I would buy extra yeast packets if I were to do this again just to avoid that. What if I were to use a yeast packet intended for a 5 gal kit, but only for 2.5gal?
Steeping Grains
I boiled the water to a target temp of 160F, then steeped the grains for the 20 minutes. After reading the instructions again, they talk about putting in the grains while the water is cold, then steeping for 20 minutes while targeting 160F. Which is the better way to steep? I would think steeping at the 160F for the full 20 minutes would extract more flavor?
Decontaminate Buckets
Fill the bottling bucket with hot water and dissolve the no rinse cleaner. I would think the water should be hot enough to dissolve rinse, but no need to be hot since I would be using my hand to clean the bucket?
Concerns about temp
From what it says about Ale per the Munton's yeast site, they talk about a fermentation temperature any where from 64F-70F for an Ale. Being that I live in SF, and it can get pretty chilly, I was worried about going below 64F in the evenings. So, I placed a seedling mat under the fermentor, along with a on/off temperature controller. I set the temp controller to turn on for anything below 64F and placed the fermentor in a cupboard. This AM I took temp readings on the outside of the fermentor which measured 72F. The inside of the cabinet is showing 66F, so the additional 6F is a good sign the fermentation is working. I had bought some stick on temperature labels, but they are terrible to see unless I shine a light on them, which I shouldn't be doing. Is there a recommended good stick on gauge?
Airlock
Since I started this 3pm yesterday, and now it's 8AM, happy to report the airlock is bubbling away. I was surprised initially that 1/2 the sanitizer that I put in the airlock was "missing". I could see that it sprayed out due to the big gurgles it was making every 30 seconds. I had left the red cap off thinking "how was the gas going to escape"... No doubt a mistake! as it does allow gas to escape, not to mention it prevents evaporation. Now that the cap is on it's gurgling constantly!!! Wonder if I should be refilling the airlock with more sanitizer?
I plan on taking specific gravity measurements with the hydrometer at days 10,11,12 to see if fermentation is done and proceed with bottling if I'm good to go.
Keeping my fingers crossed, this is fun fun fun!!!
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